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   Since 2000 we've been bestowing our annual Editor's Choice Awards on favorites from WWII-related books published in the preceding year, awards sometimes known with humor and affection as the "Stonies." We peruse, read, and review quite a few books each year, and during that time we separate a little wheat from a great deal of chaff. The Stonies allow us to select and acknowledge the titles we rate as the most important new releases of the year.
   Mind you, these awards are in their own way just as subjective and imperfect as any other method of honoring books. We can only read so many books in twelve months, and we have our own tastes and preferences about specific topics and about what makes a good book. But—hey!—this is our website, so we get to have a little fun once in awhile.
   When we choose the annual Stonies, we never aim for a particular number of top books; instead, we seek quality rather than quantity. In 2011 we received and read plenty of good books from a variety of authors and publishers from all over the world, many of which came very close to making the final cut, but ultimately we identified five new books as the "creme de la creme."
   In most years some kind of pattern emerges when we analyze the chosen books. This year it's immediately apparent that three of the five deal with the Russian Front. Interestingly, two of the books cover exactly the same engagement, but from different sides of the front lines. Three of the five come from publishers outside the US; of those, two are English translations of books originally published in other languages. Of the five winning authors represented this year, only one has previously won a Stonie award. Of course, as always, the one thing all five titles have in common is that they're exemplary books.
   Whatever all that means to readers, without further ado we present the Stone & Stone Editor's Choice Awards for new non-fiction books about World War II published in 2011, the Stonies, in alphabetical order by author:

	Boer, Peter C. The Loss of Java: The Final Battles for the Possession of Java. Singapore: National University of Singapore Press, 2011. A fresh and complete appraisal of the endgame in the Netherlands East Indies in 1942, demonstrating how the air-land-sea campaign was wider, more desperate, and more costly than generally recognized. Many details from Dutch archives not previously available in English.
	Heiferman, Ronald Ian The Cairo Conference of 1943: Roosevelt, Churchill, Chiang Kai-shek and Madame Chiang. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc, 2011. The wheeling and dealing of a colorful cast of characters, no two of whom seem to have exactly the same plans or goals. How could such a circus of skewed decision-making have so many far-reaching consequences? The author shows why the collision of personalities and objectives meant a great deal to the war as well as the post-war world.
	Mark, Jason D. Besieged: The Epic Battle for Cholm. Sydney: Leaping Horseman Books, 2011. Readers familiar with the author's previous works (on Stalingrad in particular) will not be surprised that his volume on the siege of Cholm offers a vigorous, unflinching, in-depth approach taken largely from wartime sources. No other account of the battle comes remotely close to this excellent tome.
	Nipe Jr, George Blood, Steel, and Myth: The II.SS-Panzer-Korps and the Road to Prochorowka. Stamford, CT: RZM Publishing, 2011. Another strong effort from George Nipe, this one closely examining the German side of the largest tank battle in history. Or was it? It's no accident the word "myth" appears in the title. Utilizes primary source material, notably the actual orders and reports generated by units and HQs during the battle. Along with Zamulin's book (below) this goes far toward revealing the true shape and size of action.
	Zamulin, Valeriy and Stuart Britton (translator and editor) Demolishing the Myth: The Tank Battle at Prokhorovka, Kursk, July 1943: An Operational Narrative. Solihull, UK: Helion & Company, 2011. Another mythbuster. The author mined Red Army documents from wartime archives to produce in 2005 an account of the battle stripped of Stalin-era propaganda and fabrications. Translated into English, expanded with more information, and supplemented with new images and maps, Zamulin's work opens a window into exactly what happened during the battle—especially from the Soviet perspective—with much attention to numbers and types of AFVs engaged and lost. Along with Nipe's book (above) this goes far toward revealing the true shape and size of action.

   Our warm congratulations and thanks go out to the authors, editors, publishers, and booksellers who brought us these primo titles of 2011, as well as all the other great new books that arrived last year to enrich and enliven the body of Second World War literature.
   Now we start searching for the best new books of 2012!

Previous Editor's Choice winners:

   Editor's Choice for 1999

   Editor's Choice for 2000

   Editor's Choice for 2001

   Editor's Choice for 2002

   Editor's Choice for 2003

   Editor's Choice for 2004

   Editor's Choice for 2005

   Editor's Choice for 2006

   Editor's Choice for 2007

   Editor's Choice for 2008

   Editor's Choice for 2009

   Editor's Choice for 2010

Reviewed 8 January 2012
Copyright © 2012 by Bill Stone
May not be reproduced in any form without written permission of Stone & Stone